Malcolm McKinnell

Malcolm McKinnell

Co-Founder and Partner

Malcolm set up Ward Williams in 1992 after working for a medium sized firm in London. He wanted to give clients a more personal service, using new IT methods,  than the very traditional service being provided by most firms of accountants.

He advises small companies and individuals on various tax issues with the aim of mitigating tax liabilities and uses tax efficient planning to arrange their affairs. Having started his own business and seen it through two recessions he has the commercial experience which enables him to understand the issues businesses face today. Unlike a lot of accountants he provides both technical and practical skills when offering advice.

Malcolm is a qualified probate advisor and, since the legal changes that mean that probate services are no longer the sole preserve of solicitors, he now provides help to executors with all aspects of the process. His understanding of the client’s financial affairs make him the obvious person for the family to contact.

Corporate Tax

We help successful businesses and individuals maximise profitability, mitigate future tax costs and ultimately help them drive forward their growth strategies with our highly specialised tax planning and advice.

With an increasingly complex tax regime, and greater emphasis placed on taxpayers' individual responsibilities, we are here to support you in meeting all your compliance obligations whilst always looking for opportunities to reduce the tax burden.

Services include:

• Self assessment income tax returns;
• Corporate tax compliance, advice and planning;
• Dealing with HMRC investigations;
• Capital allowance maximisation;
• Property taxation;
• Patent Box and Research & Development tax credits;
• Extraction of profits from family companies;
• Share option schemes;
• Corporate restructuring;
• Sale and purchase of companies and assets;
• Capital gains tax planning and SDLT mitigation;
• Trusts and estate taxation and IHT planning;
• VAT planning;
• International Tax advice and planning.

Companies HMRC online Tax Account.
 
All companies should register with the online government gateway. This will provide access to their online tax account – where tax liabilities will be stated and where corporate tax liabilities can be paid.
 
To register for the HMRC online services, visit this link here.

Personal Tax

The strategy of our team of qualified tax advisers is to offer a personal service, tailored to your specific needs.

Our principle aim is to understand our clients and provide a complete service, ranging from compliance work through to structured tax planning.

Through our personal service we will:

• remove the burden of our complex tax system;
• assist you with meeting your statutory obligations under self-assessment;
• undertake a review of your affairs in order to provide you with proactive tax planning advice.

There are a variety of tax reliefs and planning ideas currently available for Entrepreneurs, Owner Managed Businesses and Individuals. 

Inheritance Tax

Working closely with you and our personal tax and financial services teams we identify strategies, which will incorporate the use of available reliefs and exemptions relevant to your personal circumstances. These need to be planned and implemented sensitively as succession issues and family arrangements should usually take priority. Flexibility is typically a key feature of a successful strategy, while also being aware of the tax consequences.

Depending on the client’s goals, implementing a strategy is likely to involve one or more of the following:

• lifetime gifts;
• drafting, or revising an existing Will;
• establishing trusts;
• life assurance.

Probate

Ward Williams are licensed to provide probate and estate administration services.

What does this mean 

We can save you or your family a lot of time and stress in the event of losing a loved one. There are certain protocols which need to be carried out upon a person’s death. Probate and estate administration is just one of these, but also the most complex, as the executors are required to file legal, financial and taxation information about the deceased’s estate.

However, we can ease this burden, particularly when the deceased was a client of ours, as we will have much of the financial and tax information to hand and are likely to know the next of kin. This can simplify and shorten the process and therefore help to keep the costs to a minimum.